Openair Lumnezia – Small But Beautiful!

My first visit at Openair Lumnezia is quite easily also one of my festival highlights this year. I knew that the people of Graubünden (Kanton of Grisons) can party and I was told that this is a quite small and more “personal” festival too. Despite the rain and mud, this festival will be remembered as exactly what it is, small but beautiful!

From July 19th to 21st over 18’000 people made their way to the small village of Degen in the Val Lumnezia: It’s Openair Lumnezia time! The camping area filled up pretty fast on Thursday, at this point in beautiful sunshine. Up until Friday evening it was warm and sunny, but then shortly after James Gruntz’ performance the clouds ganged up on us. Here comes the rain… But you know what they say, there’s no bad weather, only bad clothing 😉

Openair Lumnezia – the new Mud-nezia

(ok that somehow sounds so much better in German…)

As mentioned earlier, this festival is pretty small compared to the other ones like Openair Frauenfeld or St. Gallen. But this is pretty much the reason it’s so charming and cute. The festival grounds are small and cozy, which doesn’t mean there’s not much to choose from when it comes to food for example. There’s still some variety and I’m sure everyone can find something they like. They even offer typical Grisons food like Capuns. My personal highlight was the Dutchi truck – I guess I can’t hide my dutch “roots” 😉

Big plus when it comes to the area infront of the stage – they lay out big plastic thingies to stand on, so at least the first couple of rows won’t drown in mud and water. But of course a bit further back, you’ll be standing on the field, or what was once a field. After hours of rain, naturally all there was left was a huge puddle and lots of mud. The stage itself is rather big and therefore gives the bands lots of space but also a pretty broad front row, so many people can enjoy the shows from up front.

The Musical Highlights of the Openair Lumnezia

My personal highlights were Bastille and Beth Ditto! But let’s start from the beginning. The line-up was a nice mix of national and international acts, newcomers and also already established artists. Here’s who performed this year:

Friday Lumnezia Highlights

Unfortunately I had to miss out on the shows on Thursday due to not enough vacation days. But as of Friday afternoon I was there and ready to rumble! The first highlight was just around the corner too. Bastille – a band that I’ve known for several years, but only recently (after their set at Coachella last year) learned to really enjoy. The sound wasn’t too good unfortunately, there was too much bass that drowned out the vocals. Singer Dan seemed to have some issues with his in-ear monitors too, but took it like a pro and kept the show going. It was a great gig after all and I was super happy that the weather gods seemed to be Bastille fans too, not one drop of rain.

That changed quickly after the set ended and Marteria was up. It started pouring. The clouds definitely weren’t “lila” but black as the night (trying to refer to Marterias song “Lila Wolken” – which obviously doesn’t work as well in English haha). But the fans really couldn’t care less, they were partying hard. My cameras almost drowned and weren’t happy at all, but they’re still alive thank god 🙂

For more pictures of James Gruntz – Danko Jones – Gentleman – Bastille and Marteria just keep scrolling.

Saturday Lumnezia Highlights

On Saturday my highlight was Beth Ditto. She’s an incredibly likeable woman with a powerful voice and an amazing talent. Her energy and her IDGAF attitude surprises me every single time. The sound had definitely improved too, so it was a pleasure to see her perform and entertain the crowd. Loved her attempts to speak German, I’m gonna remember this one for sure: Scheisse ist heisse! (

After Beth the german band Kraftklub was next up. I have to admit, it’s not quite my thing, but they made the crowd go nuts! The atmosphere was on an alltime high I think. People danced, let beer fly through the air (what a waste of beer though!), created mosh pits and just had a great time. The crowd loved them!

For more pictures of Beth Ditto and Kraftklub, just keep scrolling:

So, a huge GRAZIA FETG to Openair Lumnezia for having us this year, it was great and we’re already looking forward to next year – hopefully with a little more sunshine 😉